Education Task Group

The Education Task Group is a thematic committee of the Cyprus Dialogue Forum. It is a dialogue among mandated representatives from Political Parties, Teachers Unions, Business Associations and NGOs from the two communities on issues relating to Education.

In the context of the dialogue, stakeholders recognise that the viability of a peace agreement is based not only on reaching a political settlement but also on the ability to develop and foster a culture of coexistence grounded in common understanding that helps to alleviate the socio-cultural and historical divisions between the two communities. While stakeholders recognise that with a federal solution, Education will remain as the competence of the constituent states, as it has always been since the 1960s, they stress that Education should play a pivotal role in shaping citizens of a peaceful future. Stakeholders identify that lack of coordination or cooperation between the two education systems so far, has led to a situation where these have worked independently of each other, without any convergence or a common value system that defines them. They identify that there is a need to learn from the past and explore areas of cooperation.

The Education Task Group focuses on working towards the development of a conceptual and institutional framework for education in each community based on shared values, principles and standards that would act as the lens through which to shape education in the two communities in the current and future sociopolitical context. The efforts of the Task Group do not aim to replace the formal process but to act in a complementary manner to contribute and support the efforts to reach a solution to the Cyprus problem.